Hilux Champ 2-Door Inspiration?

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R1TVT

Scout Community Veteran
1st Year Member
Dec 21, 2022
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New England
There's something cool about these Hilux rigs that always catches my eye. I have owned many Toyota trucks and my first was a pre-Tacoma "Toyota Shortbed" with 4WD and red manual locking hubs. I know this won't be a top priority at first, but there is definitely a segment here for the Chicken Tax truck... Imagine a SCOUT version of this Hilux, as an EV, with the same footprint and basic ruggedness. Something like this would be such a great ride if made in the USA by someone like SCOUT and probably fit in well with the target truck audience. I'd love to see this wrapped in a SCOUT truck "skin" in about the same size! Just don't look too closely at how close the mud-chukkers are to the rear wheel wells!

 
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I had a 2wd (all they came in circa 1978) HiLux back last century and I still contend there is a need for smaller trucks with less stuff. Traded up to a Chevy Silverado with Olds diesel.
 
I have held my thoughts for awhile, but am just going to throw this out there. While I applaud your decision to go all electric (not really), I would like to suggest that this will ultimately end in failure. There is a great need for a work truck, one that a person could buy and build a business with. A hard working, reliable truck. I would suggest that two versions of this would be nice, One that is a compact truck and a larger version. An ICE engine would be preferred, but a hybrid would be acceptable. One that can haul heavy loads for long distances, one that will take a beating and keep on moving down the road. Make this truck and make it where it can be upgraded easily like the Jeep and you will have a success. If you don’t change your minds, I fear that this Scout will go the way of the old Scout. Consigned to the dustbins of history.
 
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Many of the naysayers equate ICE with adjectives like "hard working, reliable, take a beating, upgradable". These are not mutually exclusive to ICE. An EV truck can be all of that and more.

One of the best possible configurations for an EV work truck to support small businesses locally, would be in the form of a stripped down EV. Ford had the right idea with the lightening, but since it was not a full "ground-up" build, could not take advantage of every benefit provided by starting with a clean slate and an entirely new design. I almost wonder if FORD would have done better by ONLY launching a super simple bench seat 2 door EV work truck... A lot of very shrewd and savvy small business owners would have been secretly driving massive adoption for EV trucks behind the scenes, allowing FORD to iterate and innovate on a pure EV F-150 from the ground up, while they took their lessons from the base EV work truck. Last mile delivery vans in the form of EV's are going to change the logistics landscape and create significant environmental benefits in Urban and Suburban areas.

For long-hauling heavy loads out of state and other use cases, diesel will still win, and that is OK... This is not a zero sum game that happens all in one fell swoop.
 
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International used to have a Scout Terra. It was a unibody pickup truck. We owned one and loved it. I unfortunately doubt that they will make a version here. The focus appears to be more on the Urban want-to-be "adventure" type. Not is an actual work vehicle. It is kind of sad with the right vision, they can have the best of both worlds.
 
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International used to have a Scout Terra. It was a unibody pickup truck. We owned one and loved it. I unfortunately doubt that they will make a version here. The focus appears to be more on the Urban want-to-be "adventure" type. Not is an actual work vehicle. It is kind of sad with the right vision, they can have the best of both worlds.
I think based on many comments throughout this forum and comments Scott Keogh has made, you may be surprised at what the pick up turns out to be. It certainly won’t be a small work truck, meaning proportional to the original Terra’s but I believe it will be a serious work truck. If they want the pick up to succeed they need to have it serve the contractor work force first for volume then look to a smaller pick up a few years later as battery packaging becomes smaller, more robust and they start exploring a smaller SUV and truck then I bet we see the smaller vehicles. Currently the battery packaging and range dictate the vehicle size
 
I think based on many comments throughout this forum and comments Scott Keogh has made, you may be surprised at what the pick up turns out to be. It certainly won’t be a small work truck, meaning proportional to the original Terra’s but I believe it will be a serious work truck. If they want the pick up to succeed they need to have it serve the contractor work force first for volume then look to a smaller pick up a few years later as battery packaging becomes smaller, more robust and they start exploring a smaller SUV and truck then I bet we see the smaller vehicles. Currently the battery packaging and range dictate the vehicle size
I hope you are right.
 
I remember posting circa 2017 that if Ford didn’t reintroduce the Bronco as a full size with the V8, that they would fail because no one wants a little SUV the size of the early Bronco.

Best crow I ever ate.

This time, I’ll wait to see what Scout comes up with first.
 
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In the realm of Toyotas, I dropped our extra key from our Bronco trade. I got to see the new landcruiser in person. Gotta say it looks AMAZING in person. I still like the newer rectangular lights better than round lights.
The height and proportions are perfect for the off road feel. Really nice vehicle and while I want more “colors” on the Scout but this storm cloud gray (I think) was a really nice warm gray.
 

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I would had been more supportive of the Jeep Gladiator if it had been a two door. My daily driver is a Ram 1500 regular cab. My 61' Scout and my 51' Willys M38 are both short wheel base vehicles
Can you even buy a 2 door RAM? Don't think I have seen one that did not say Dodge on it